Dual-screen laptops and ROG machines

The Zenbook A-range has always been about providing a solid work laptop in a form factor that’s simple to carry around, and no laptop really encapsulates that idea better than the Asus Zenbook A14 (2026). With a 14-inch display, the A14 is one of the most compact Asus laptops around right now, and perfect for those who value portability above all else.

With a chassis that weighs in at less than 1kg, the Zenbook A14 (2026) can easily be carried around one-handed, so if you need to quickly dash between meeting rooms or locations in a building and don’t have a laptop bag to hand, then there isn’t really any friction here. The same goes for when you’re travelling long distances and you need to throw the Zenbook A14 into a backpack as you’ll barely notice its presence.

What’s great is that in spite of the assumptions that might come with such a portable laptop, the Zenbook A14 is still a productivity powerhouse. Our review unit packed the phenomenal Snapdragon X2 Elite chipset inside, which in turn was backed up by 32GB RAM to make short work of everything from filling in spreadsheets to video editing.

Because of the ARM-based horsepower that Snapdragon’s chipset provides, this laptop has access to Microsoft’s Copilot+ suite of AI features. This means that, in a pinch, you can rely on AI tools for photo editing, and to bounce around project ideas with Copilot’s chatbot. This particular model also came with a 1TB SSD so you don’t have to worry too much about relying on cloud storage.

The one key problem working against the Zenbook A14 is its price, with this model going for £1599. At that price, we would have liked to see a better display onboard, rather than one that’s capped at a 1920 x 1200 resolution. Still, for truly high-end power that’s easy to carry around, the Zenbook A14 will be worth the expense for plenty of professionals out there.

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As much as we love the more compact A14, there’s no denying that if you want a robust screen but want to hold on to a similar degree of portability then the Asus Zenbook A16 (2026) is the easy pick to recommend. It packs so much of what makes the A14 great but takes it one step further with a screen that’s simply lovely to use.

It’s a 16-inch panel (as you may have guessed), but it comes with a 3K resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate and, above all, it uses OLED technology for superior contrast. With these elements combined, the Zenbook A16 is exactly the fix we wanted when testing the A14 which, despite being a great laptop, doesn’t have the best display around.

In everyday use, the 120Hz refresh rate is helpful for making web browsing and scrolling through spreadsheets feel buttery smooth, but the whole thing really comes to life when enjoying a bit of entertainment. That higher refresh rate is perfect for more fast-paced games, so if you want to enjoy a bit of Counter-Strike 2 in your downtime then you’ll find an enjoyable experience here, so long as you tweak the settings to find the optimal build.

When kicking back with a bit of Netflix or Disney Plus, the 3K resolution is an absolute treat on the eyes as you can pick up on so much detail, and the OLED panel really lets colours pop onscreen. It just means that when you’re on the road and without a proper TV to lean on, the Asus Zenbook A16 can become a great entertainment centre.

Of course, with the Snapdragon X2 Elite chipset and Copilot+ AI features, the A16 is primarily intended for work, and you’ll be able to blitz through most tasks with ease. Our battery test got the laptop through 19 hours and 17 minutes of use on a single charge, so you won’t have to worry either if you’re typing away in a cafe and there isn’t an available power outlet.

While the Zenbook A14 is a great laptop in its own right, and arguably the better buy here for anyone who’s solely fixated on having a super portable workstation, the Asus Zenbook S 14 (2026) is really the next step up in the ranks for those who need a more powerful, ultra-book style device for fairly demanding work tasks such as photo and video editing.

Running the show here is the new and improved Intel Core Ultra 9 Panther Lake processor, and it’s an absolute beast in operation. When put through our benchmarking tests, we picked up on improved single and multi-threaded performance compared to laptops using the Intel Core Ultra 9 285H, like the MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo (2025).

The S 14’s ability to carry out complex tasks throughout the working day is seriously impressive, although we had hoped that the gaming performance might be a tad better than it is, given the laptop’s high price point. We only picked up on 27fps when playing Returnal at 1080p, and Cyberpunk 2077 ran slower than that, so we don’t recommend picking up this laptop for gaming unless you want to spend a fair amount of time tinkering with the settings.

Still, for the price you are getting one of Asus’ most well-built laptops as it uses the brand’s ceraluminum material on the lid (which is already known for being durable yet lightweight), and the rest of the chassis is comprised of aluminium. All of this combines to a weight of just 1.2kg which is almost unheard of, even for a smaller 14-inch laptop.

Speaking of that 14-inch panel, you’re treated to a gorgeous 3K OLED experience which is just as potent in offering up essential details during the editing process, as it is with bringing your favourite films and TV shows to life after a long day’s work. There’s even a 120Hz refresh rate to make everything feel buttery smooth. The final cherry on top is the 18-hour and 28-minute battery life we recorded which can safely get you through two working days.

Of all the tech collaborations we’ve seen over the years, Asus and GoPro might not seem like the most obvious pairing but in the Asus ProArt GoPro Edition PX13, the whole thing turns out to be an excellent partnership. While there’s no denying that the laptop’s £2999.99 price tag will just be too much for some buyers, it is worth every penny if you’re a creator in need of a workstation that can do it all.

If you’re tempted, you might be wondering where GoPro fits into the equation, and there are quite a few ways that the brand has been incorporated, the most obvious of which is in the design. The jet black colourway and ridged lid is taken straight from GoPro’s rugged aesthetic, and the laptop even comes with a rough and ready sleeve that’s designed to keep it protected when you head out into the world.

When you actually dive into the laptop itself, you’ll notice very quickly that there’s a dedicated GoPro hotkey on the function bar which can be used to launch GoPro Player. For those who use a GoPro camera to shoot content on the go, it just makes the process of getting it all edited and pieced together that bit easier.

It doesn’t matter if you’re working with meaty 4K files either as the AMD Strix Halo chipset is a true workhorse that simply doesn’t buckle. If you want to dabble in a bit of gaming after you’re done uploading all your edited footage, then you can do just that. We recorded 66fps in Cyberpunk 2077 when running the game at 1080p, and it still ran at a respectable 31.89fps when cranking up the graphics to 1440p.

Whatever it is you’re using the laptop for, it all looks great thanks to the 13-inch 2880 x 1800 OLED panel. It’s touchscreen too, so if you need to use a stylus for drawing up some digital art or a thumbnail, then you have the freedom to do so. It would have been nice to see the laptop use a refresh rate higher than 60Hz, particularly given how expensive it is, but this is just a minor gripe on what is otherwise an outstanding machine.

If you read our review for the Asus Zenbook S 14 and thought that it sounded like a good match, but you would prefer to have just a slightly larger screen for easier multitasking, and a faster processor to boot then fear not, the Asus Zenbook S 16 (2026) is exactly what you’re after.

As you no doubt guessed from its name, the S 16 packs a bigger 16-inch display which is nice and wide – providing just enough room so that you can have two (or even three) apps sat side by side. You don’t need us to tell you how useful that additional space can be when you’re in a flow state, especially as it saves you from having to constantly jump from one app to another.

The screen itself is bright too, reaching a peak brightness of 1000 nits (double that of the 2024 S 16), so if you fancy catching up on some work from a beer garden or on the patio, then you won’t have any issues there. It’s also an OLED panel, so you’re getting deep inky blacks alongside those brighter colours, making for a very visually arresting experience, regardless of whether you’re being productive or kicking back with some entertainment.

The performance level is similarly excellent, thanks to the use of AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 465 chipset which powered our review unit. There are 10 cores and 20 threads to boot, the combination of which led to fairly impressive results in Geekbench 6 and Cinebench R23. Admittedly, the scores we recorded weren’t major leaps forward on what was achievable with the previous S 16, but it’s still enough oomph to get most users through their workload with ease.

We’re always big fans of ports on ultrabook-style laptops, especially as there are too many that follow the Apple style of old and try and get away with including as few ports as possible, but that’s not an issue with the latest Zenbook S 16. You’ve got a full-sized HDMI, an SD card reader, a headphone jack, one USB-A slot and two USB-C slots. For incorporating accessories and other devices, you’ve got a ton of freedom.

Asus has no shortage of great gaming laptops under its Republic of Gamers brand, but for those who want something a bit more versatile than the rest of the crowd, the Asus ROG Flow Z13 (2025) is an excellent option to consider. This is a 2-in-1 device, making it far more versatile as you can remove the keyboard attachment whenever you please, and using the built-in kickstand to prop it up on a table. With a controller in tow, you could use the keyboard-free setup to game on a plane or train.

In terms of actual performance, the ROG Flow Z13 is right up there with the best of them. Even our review unit, which came with the slightly lesser powered Ryzen AI Max 390 CPU (you can opt for the more powerful Ryzen AI Max+ 395 build), was able to destroy other gaming laptops like the MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo (2025) in Geekbench, Cinebench and PCMark benchmarking tests.

Despite the fact that the Z13 uses an integrated graphics chip, we were able to get Cyberpunk 2077 to run at 53.94fps with a 1080p resolution, which is astounding. By comparison, the integrated GPU in the Intel Core Ultra 9 285H isn’t capable of half that, so it’s really impressive to see what Ryzen has achieved here.

The whole experience is further bolstered by the lovely 13.4-inch 2560 x 1600 IPS display, which packs a 180Hz refresh rate. Even though it’s not an OLED panel, we found the contrast levels to be sublime, and they’re paired with astounding colour accuracy, with our colorimeter picking up 99% sRGB, 97% DCI-P3 and 88% Adobe RGB colour space coverage.

As a final cherry on top, the battery life of the latest Z13 is much improved over its predecessor, lasting a whopping 11 hours and 38 minutes in our test. That type of longevity is almost unheard of for a 2-in-1 device, and allows the Z13 to outdo quite a few gaming laptops, including Asus’ own ProArt P16 (4K Lumina Pro OLED). We would like to see the keyboard attachment improved upon in a successor as it’s a bit too flimsy for our liking, but it’s not enough to detract from the excellent gaming experiences the Z13 can offer.

Asus has fully embraced the double-screen concept now, and while the Asus Zenbook Duo (2026) will be the better option for professionals who value battery life above anything else, it’s the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo (2026) that’s designed with gamers in mind. Even though there are plenty of great gaming laptops on the market, very few can compete with the full experience being offered here.

Because you have two displays to hand, there are certain use cases that are just so much easier with the ROG Zephyrus Duo. For instance, if you’re stuck on a particular game and need to peruse a walkthrough to get beyond where you’re at, you don’t have to minimise the game to check it as you can simply have the guide open on one of the screens. Similarly, if you’re a Twitch streamer then you can more easily engage with your audience on the screen that isn’t showing the game you’re currently playing.

There are so many more possibilities but regardless of what you have in mind, the experience is fantastic due to the specs onboard. The two 16-inch displays not only carry a 3K resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, they also boast OLED panels for stunning contrast as you game. For horror titles like Resident Evil Requiem, you’ll find yourself drawn into plunging hallways where you’re not quite sure what lurks in the darkness.

In terms of raw performance, because the laptop is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 9 386H processor and an RTX 5090 graphics card, there really isn’t much that it can’t handle. Running Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p, we saw an average of 110.10fps, which was a wonderful way to explore Night City, and even when upping the resolution to 1440p, the laptop could still maintain an impressive 73.45fps.

Thanks to the massive 90Whr battery crammed inside the unit, the ROG Zephyrus Duo was able to last for 15 hours and four minutes in our battery test, which is quite impressive for a gaming laptop, especially one that needs to power two screens in this case. Admittedly, you do get a longer stint of battery life with the aforementioned Asus Zenbook Duo (2026), but that laptop is designed more for productivity and doesn’t boast the gaming chops found here.

Whenever the topic of a business-ready laptop comes up, it probably isn’t too uncommon to imagine a bulky and dated-looking device, the kind that you’d rather not be seen with outside of the office. While that might be a fair description of some devices in this area, the Asus ExpertBook Ultra (2026) is anything but, as this is an eye-catching laptop that just happens to have been made with professionals in mind.

In fact, the ExpertBook Ultra is so stylish, with a ceramic coating and a slim build that you’d be forgiven for thinking that it was meant for a different audience altogether. At just 990g, the ExpertBook Ultra is wonderfully lightweight, so if you do need to move between a handful of meeting rooms and maybe even a cafe across the street, you won’t feel bogged down by the tech on hand.

Thinking about the needs of business owners and professionals in 2026, Asus has made sure to include some forward-thinking features in the software, including AI Meeting Minutes and AI Translated Subtitles. These features can be found in Asus’ ExpertPanel which can be called upon quickly. It also helps that with a dedicated button for Microsoft Copilot, you can always bounce around a few ideas with the chatbot before fleshing them out with your team.

Regardless of what your day has in store, the ExpertBook Ultra has enough power to take it all on thanks to the next-level Intel Core Ultra X7 358H Panther Lake processor. With 16 cores and 16 threads, the ExpertBook feels blazingly fast in everyday use. There’s so much power at hand that you can even delve into a bit of gaming after the working day is done, as we saw Cyberpunk 2077 run at 44.94fps at 1080p resolution.

Speaking of entertainment, the tandem OLED display, which stacks layers of OLED panels on top of one another to increase the level of brightness available (something regular OLED panels tend to struggle with) is great for kicking back and enjoying some Netflix. Of course, it works just as well for scrolling through spreadsheets and documents, but you’ll really see the colour come to life when streaming.

If you’ve been eyeing up the latest ExpertBook Ultra as your next work laptop but would like the idea of having the same dual-screen set-up as the ROG Zephyrus Duo then it sounds like the Asus Zenbook Duo (2026) is the right upgrade for you. This is a true powerhouse workstation that, admittedly, does cost a small fortune with our testing unit priced at £2299.99/$2299.99, but it leaves you wanting for nothing.

Because of the dual-screen set-up, you don’t have to worry about bringing a separate screen with you on the go, or making sure that you’re at a desk with a dedicated monitor. The two 14-inch 3K OLED displays are nothing short of stunning, and having them available at all times means that tasks such as writing and researching are so much easier, not to mention taking a video call on one screen whilst using the other to look at the document or presentation that’s the focal point of the discussion.

With a bevvy of AI features onboard, the Zenbook Duo can also be called upon to act as your personal assistant on the go. For example, you can use Microsoft Copilot (which has a dedicated summon button on the keyboard) to quickly find the perfect restaurant for a client meeting, or flesh out an idea you have into actionable points that can then be easily delegated.

What powers these AI features, and indeed the fast performance of the Zenbook Duo as a whole, is the phenomenal Core Ultra X9 388H processor, which is from Intel’s state-of-the-art Panther Lake range. You can zip through browser tabs, photo editing software and more without seeing the Duo break a sweat. There’s even capacity for a spot of gaming, with the fast-paced title Returnal clocking an impressive 50fps at 1080p.

Where the Zenbook Duo really comes into its own however is with battery life. Asus has crammed the thing with a massive 99Whr cell which paved the way for a whopping 19 hours and 43 minutes of use in our battery test. That’s great news for those who can be working in a completely different place from one day to the next, as you won’t have to constantly worry about parking yourself in a spot that’s near a charging outlet.